Marvel in the UK

[MacNimon]

Covers dated August 4th - Sept 15th, 1973.

MWOM issues 44-50, SMCW issues 25-31

Issue 46 of MWOM would see the title put the regular solo adventures of the Hulk on hold for a few weeks. Not that this meant that the character would be missing from the pages, but rather they used it as an opportunity to introduce the Avengers, a series in which the Hulk was initially an important character. These few issues were used as something of a preview, as (although it hadn't been announced at this point) Marvel's third UK title, The Avengers, was being planned for release in just a few weeks time, coinciding with MWOM issue 51.

[MacNimon]

Covers from 22nd September - 13th October, 1973

MWOM 51-54, SMCW 32-35, and Avengers issues 1-4

Marvel's UK output was obviously deemed to be a success (something which couldn't be guaranteed simply because much of the material had already been reprinted several years earlier - however this didn't seem to affect sales in the slightest), because at the start of September 1973, they expanded their UK line to 3 titles. Not only did they add a new title, but it was also a new publishing format. The Avengers had glossy covers, with the interiors being all b&w artwork (the 'spot colouring was also being phased out of theother two titles by this time). Each issue of The Avengers featured a full-length Avengers story, initially by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby (later replaced by Don Heck) with Lee and Steve Ditko's Doctor Strange appearing in the back-up slot. MWOM reverted to starring the Hulk and the Fantastic Four, also introducing the X-Men around this time.

[MacNimon]

Covers dated October 20th - November 24th, 1973

MWOM 55-60, SMCW 36-41, Avengers 5-10

[Silver Age Fan]

Never saw the conclusion to that Hulk/Mandarin battle. The Mandarin, much like villains such as Doctor Doom and Magneto, is not one to be defeated and put in jail, but I wonder what happened between him and the Hulk.

[MacNimon]

Covers from December 1973 - April 1974

MWOM #61-82, SMCW #42-63, Avengers #11-32









Both MWOM and SMCW changed to the same glossy cover format as The Avengers at this time, with issues 67 and 48 respectively. Iron Man makes his first Marvel UK appearance in SMCW #50, with Spidey himself taking a page cut to accomodate him.